Straddling Asia and Europe across the Bosporus strait, the great, glorious hodgepodge of cultures that is Istanbul by all rights should be one of the great dining cities of the world. Yet too many visitors remain stuck in the Sultanahmet area, hewing close to the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, the Ayasofya museum, and the Grand Bazaar; compelling as those attractions are, the cafes in that area seem bent on gouging tourists with high prices, aggressive come-ons, and mediocre food. It's a shame, really, because once you venture farther afield, you'll discover all the savory nuances that make Turkish food so delicious.
Out in the foothills of Edirnekapi, next to the St. Saviour in Chora church, the Kariye Hotel's Asitane (Kariye Camii Sok. 18; tel. 90/212/534-8414; www.asitanerestaurant.com) features one of the world's earliest fusion menus -- painstakingly researched recipes that were once served at the Ottoman court to sultans like Mehmet the Conqueror and Suleiman the Magnificent. This imperial blending of Arabic, Greek, Persian, and North African influences results in luscious dishes like eggplant stuffed with grilled quail; spring chicken stewed with almonds, dried apricots, grapes, honey, and cinnamon; or nirbach, a diced lamb, meatball, carrot, and walnut stew spiced with coriander, ginger, cinnamon, and pomegranate syrup. Don't expect hokey faux-historic decor -- Asitane's tasteful gold-and-white look is restrained and modern, throwing the emphasis squarely where it should be: on the food itself. Similar recipes have been updated at Feriye (Çiragan Cad. 124; tel. 90/212/227-2216), with its stunning location in Ortaköy in a stately 19th-century neoclassical building overlooking the Bosporus. In summers you can eat outside on a seaside terrace -- an ideal setting for seafood dishes such as grilled turbot with saffron, courgette balls, and raspberry purée, or medallions of swordfish topped with seafood ragout. Classic Ottoman meat dishes include pastirma, spicy cured beef wrapped in vine leaves.
Meat is an essential element of traditional Turkish food, and the meat's especially fine at the stylish modern steakhouse Dükkan (Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mah, Atatürk Cad. 4; tel. 90/212/277-8860; www.dukkanistanbul.com), just north of the E-80 beltway in the Armutlu neighborhood. You know the dry-aged steaks and superb handmade sausages are fresh, because it's just down the street from its own specialty butcher shop. Out by the fish market in Samatya, not far from the airport, the flagship cafe of Develi (Gümüsyüzük Sok. 7; tel. 90/212/529-0833) raises the bar on köftes, a variety of highly seasoned ground meats from southeastern Turkey -- juicy, savory morsels like çig köfte (incredibly spicy raw beef meatballs wrapped in a lettuce leaf), findik lahmacun (Turkish-style thin-crust pizza), or the lamb sausage and pistachio kebap. Its outdoor terrace is a glorious place to sit in warm weather.
In Beyoglu, where many locals live and eat, you'll find a number of cozy meyhanes, or taverns, serving cold shots of the potent grape-and-aniseed spirit raki along with a succession of mezes, the Turkish equivalent of tapas -- a series of small dishes developed, legend has it, so that the sultan's tasters could test his food for poison. On a popular restaurant street near the bustling fish market, one of your best bets is Boncuk (Nevizade Sok. 19; tel. 90/212/243-1219), a usually jam-packed no-frills spot featuring delicacies like kizir (spicy bulgur-and-tomato salad); fried calamari; grape leaves stuffed with fish, pine nuts, and currants; or topik, a savory Armenian specialty of mashed chickpeas, onions, and currants. Within the fish market itself, hunt for the civilized oasis of Degustasyon Lokantasi (Balikpazari, Beyoglu; tel. 90/212/292-0667), where the huge selection of inventive mezes include Armenian and Turkish recipes like fava-bean loaf and a perfectly seasoned eggplant purée.
If hunger does strike while you're sightseeing in Sultanahmet, avoid the tourist traps and head for Tarihi Meshur Sultanahmet Koftecisi (DivanYolu 12A; tel. 90/212/513-1438). Unprepossessing as it may look from the street, this clean, cheap, genial little storefront has been serving reliably delicious köfte meatballs since the 1920s.
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